Bancomat (debit card)
Bancomat is an interbank network for cash withdrawals widely used in Italy. It was first introduced in 1983 for use with automated teller machines.
Operating area | Italy |
---|---|
Members | 561[1] |
ATMs | 53,000[1] |
Founded | 1983 |
Owner | Bancomat Consortium |
Website | bancomat |
The network is owned by the Rome-based Bancomat Consortium and its cards are issued by Italian banks. The service is only used in Italy and the word “bancomat” is used in Italy as a synonym for automated teller machine.
In 1986, an associated debit card network called PagoBancomat was introduced, which is based on the Bancomat service and is intended for PIN-based POS transactions.
Since the Bancomat network is not used outside Italy, almost every Bancomat/PagoBancomat debit card is co-branded with a multinational service, such as Mastercard, Maestro, Visa, Visa Electron or V Pay, for use abroad.
A new service called Bancomat Pay was introduced in January 2019. It is intended for electronic payment for online transactions.[2][3]